History has a tendency to repeat itself (with certain variations and aberrations which cannot usually be foreseen because they are not within the realm of Human physiology, behavioral psychology or our limited understanding of physics and complexity theory) in a cause-and-effect, wavelike pattern. The pattern is best observed from a distance and over long expanses of time.

The elusive aspect of prognostication by wave theory has to do with variations in certain aspects of the wave, such as its amplitude (depth, in peaks and valleys) and its frequency (the speed at which the wave will begin to reverse its direction) -- put simply, if we eliminate all kinds of comet collisions, accidental nuclear bomb detonations [oops!], alien invasions and far-reaching biological or geological disasters, we can have a fair idea about what is going to happen, but we don't know exactly when and to what extent.

With apologies to the late and profoundly tormented Edgar A. Poe (author of The Pit and The Pendulum), these waves are often described as "swings of the pendulum", from one extreme to the opposite extreme. As good citizens (I'm smirking just a bit), we are all gathered in a darkened pit underneath this massive object, feeling the swish in the rush of its blade, anticipating the moment that it will, sooner or later, make icy contact with our vulnerable and quivering flesh.

When you combine an event which is certain to occur (i.e., the slice) with an uncertain timeframe, you have a recipe for fear. Uncle Boris used to refer to this as the "Russian Roulette of Reality."

I can provide you with neither the timing nor the magnitude of the phenomena which I will outline here, but I would wager a goodly sum that they will certainly occur within the next three years throughout the industrialized world and to the greatest extent in the US:

1. An angry, disillusioned populace and wildly zealous legislators, acting in concert with frustrated, increasingly unpopular and overwhelmed executives (presidents, prime ministers, kings, and other leaders), will force the passage of an historically unprecedented amount of draconian regulation ['retaliatory regulation'] which will impact every company in every industry sector. The costs of compliance, as well as the fines and penalties imposed for infractions, will drive many companies out of business, especially the smaller ones which are not romantically intertwined with their respective governments. The result:

Many small business failures;

Loss of private sector jobs (except for attorneys), with a great portion of these displaced workers being "absorbed" into employment within the government sector, which will grow. Sadly this growth will be neither productive nor profitable, and sovereign debt will increase, taxes upon those who are the easiest targets will increase, and productivity (real GDP, innovation, advancement) will decline. Remember "stagflation"? You will.;

The largest corporations and their respective governments will become increasingly interwoven, interdependent and inseparable in an unannounced merger. If you are neither an executive of a "too-big-to-fail" company, nor a government official, you will either be a veritable slave, a very aggressive entrepreneur, a trust fund beneficiary (if you are a scion blessed with the proper lineage of one of the ruling families), a thief, a prisoner (incarceration produces jobs and removes people on both sides of the bars from the unemployment statistics), or dead.

2. Cults, common-interest groups, revivalist religious movements and very well-armed citizen militias will all be activated and agitated, each with more adherents than ever before, especially among those overtaxed and disenfranchised by the inevitable marriage of big business and big government, i.e., those "slow moving natives" who are called upon to sacrifice everything in order to pay for the sins and excesses of the privileged few.

3. The newly married big business and government conglomerated entities will be at war with all of those people and groups cited in #2, above. This war will start with tighter governance, greater restrictions of all liberties and increasing demands upon an overtaxed, angry "outworlder" public -- and it will eventually escalate into violent confrontations.

Does this sound like science fiction? I believe that the three-part scenario outlined above has already commenced, albeit quietly, with a great many government diversions and distractions keeping the harsh light focused elsewhere, while the people in the pit are beginning to compare notes. When slaves communicate, when they unite, when they begin to organize, the masters (if they are awake and aware enough to notice these seditious and ambitious behaviors) tend to adopt a "kill-or-be-killed" attitude.

It might be a good idea to review your old school notes about Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Marie Antoinette, The Romanovs, Paul Revere, Che Guevarra, The Bay of Pigs,
the VietNam "conflict," the various Inquisitions, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the fall of Enron, and, of course, The Fall of the House of Usher.

I prescribe education, communication, organization, unification as a means to preparation for survival.

When next I post, I'll just revert to stating facts, citing trends and offering conjecture as to their implications. Thank you for indulging me this once and for letting me share my fears with you.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

How Much Do You Truly Value Your Time? Answer 5 Questions to Find Out.

Please Note:

This article, which contains a brief questionnaire, was previously posted under the title, "Connecting: Some Questions to Ask Yourself...Seriously."

The previous title was posted in error. This mini-survey (refer to it as SurveyTNNW5Q), as you will see, has to do with the presence in each of us, of opposing objectives.

On the one hand, we are taught to be thrifty and independent; this is reinforced with aphorisms like, "I'd save the money and do it myself," "keep an eye on the bottom line (which invariably causes most of us to turn to the default setting of "don't spend money, it detracts from profits.")," "Waste not, want not," and the like. The underlying and unifying rationale is that any money spent is "cost" or "loss," and that it is never actually an "investment in the production of greater revenues and greater profits." It is rather like wanting to grow a large crop without investing money on planting quality seeds. Even better (as terrible analogies go), it can be about as reasonable as heating your house by tearing down your walls and throwing them into the fireplace. After a time, the heating problem becomes a non-issue.

On the other hand, we are told that "time is money," and "don't waste your valuable time."

How you think about money (spending, saving, earning and investing), speaks volumes about your belief in yourself and your own abilities. Fear of poverty is generally a much more powerful motivator than the drive for success and achievement.

A poverty mentality might be a success repellant. Are you frugal? Or simply fearful?

All other things being equal, and without reading into the questions (simple choices, actually), which of these two alternatives would you prefer in each of the cases below:

FIRST
1. Free social media access to all platforms and free passes to large group networking events, or;
2. Personal third-party introductions (with endorsements) to five pre-qualified, motivated prospective clients or partners per month at a fee of $50/month to $150/month?

SECOND
1. An email subscriber list of 100,000 people (acquired for free), or;
2. A group of 5 individuals who knew you, your product, and were aggressively talking to people to pre-qualify prospective clients to refer to you at a fee of $50/month to $150/month (total) plus a small commission on each closed sale?

THIRD
1. Spending time on the telephone and in virtual or actual meetings with prospective clients, or;
2. Spending time on the internet and working with your social media, with vigorous postings and email correspondence?

FIFTH
1. Being the most well-regarded and liked person among your network of contacts, or;
2. Being the person among your contacts who has the most needed product or service?

Please put all of your choices (anonymously) on the form which follows as soon as you can, and then hit the SEND button. No explanations, rationalizations, qualifications or excuses are permitted. Be decisive, without hedging or apologies. There are five questions, and the answer to each one is either 1 or 2.

All other things being equal, and without reading into the questions (simple choices, actually), which of these two alternatives would you prefer in each of the cases below:

FIRST
1. Free social media access to all platforms and free passes to large group networking events, or;
2. Personal third-party introductions (with endorsements) to five pre-qualified, motivated prospective clients or partners per month at a fee of $50/month to $150/month?

SECOND
1. An email subscriber list of 100,000 people (acquired for free), or;
2. A group of 5 individuals who knew you, your product, and were aggressively talking to people to pre-qualify prospective clients to refer to you at a fee of $50/month to $150/month (total) plus a small commission on each closed sale?

THIRD
1. Spending time on the telephone and in virtual or actual meetings with prospective clients, or;
2. Spending time on the internet and working with your social media, with vigorous postings and email correspondence?

FIFTH
1. Being the most well-regarded and liked person among your network of contacts, or;
2. Being the person among your contacts who has the most needed product or service?

Please put all of your choices (anonymously) on the form which follows as soon as you can, and then hit the SEND button. No explanations, rationalizations, qualifications or excuses are permitted. Be decisive, without hedging or apologies. There are five questions, and the answer to each one is either 1 or 2.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Some interesting headlines and brief articles from some of the more extreme news sources (actually, in many cases these are conjecture sources) may be a source of some useful information. An eclectic sampling follows:

1. From Robert Livingston's ultra-conservative Liberty Digest :

The Art of the Lie

When my children were growing up I could usually tell when they were lying to me. A subtle fidget, a flicker of the eyes or the pitch of their voice would give them away.
That’s because they were taught from the start that lying was wrong. My wife and I drummed it into them, and they believed it. Since they knew what they were doing was wrong it was difficult for them to pull it off.
I’ve always been pretty good at spotting liars. Not as good as Dr. Cal Lightman from the Fox show Lie to Me; but pretty good. It was a gift that served me well as a reporter.
Of course it’s a lot easier to spot a lying politician today than it used to be. How do you know they’re lying? It’s cliché, but, it’s when their lips are moving.
Did you watch any of the President Barack Obama’s recent State of the Union address? I tried counting his lies but within about 15 minutes I ran out of fingers and toes. No matter, his life is a lie—from his sham birth certificate to his autobiography to his campaign promises to his pledges as President. But the amazing thing is that he does it so effortlessly. And he’s so good at it he’d probably get away with it if those nasty facts didn’t keep getting in the way.
He promised transparency during his campaign, but does everything behind closed doors. He promised healthcare negotiations on C-Span. But negotiations are done in secret. He promised everyone they could keep their doctor, but the public option would end that. He says if someone has another idea he’ll listen, but he shuts dissenters out of the process. He says the Supreme Court overturned 100 years of law, but Justice Samuel Alito says, “Not true.”
Obama also bashed lobbyists. That was right before he invited them to sit in on White House briefings. In his SOTU speech he said: “We face a deficit of trust—deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years. To close that credibility gap, we have to take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue—to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; to give our people the government they deserve.”
Hmm. I wonder why there’s a “deficit of trust.” Maybe it’s because of things like his failure to mention that more than 40 ex-lobbyists work in his administration, as the The Washington Examiner reports. More...

2. From The Yahoo! News Blog, a bit more "progressive" as they have been stereotyped:

Leaked documents reveal GOP plan to use scare tactics to raise money

Thu Mar 4, 6:20 pm ET

National GOP leaders are doing damage control today after a Politico scoop lifted the curtain on the party's plan to tap voters' "fear" in the coming campaign season. The PR problem started when an absent-minded attendee at the Republican National Committee (RNC) confab on February 18 in Boca Grande, Florida, left a 72-page document from its 2010 strategizing session in a hotel room. Today, Politico reporter Ben Smith's expose is making headlines.
The memo tracks the fundraising presentation that RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart delivered to the RNC's $2,500-a-head annual retreat. The best path to victory in 2010, the document advises, is for Republican candidates to depict themselves as the best hope for resisting the "trending toward socialism" taking shape in a Democrat-dominated Washington.
And the document doesn't shy from making its points graphically. MSNBC showed the images this morning on "Morning Joe":
The presentation portrays the Obama administration as "The Evil Empire," including the now-infamous image of President Obama made over in the makeup Heath Ledger used in his performance as the Joker in the 2008 Batman movie "The Dark Knight." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears as Cruella De Vil from "101 Dalmatians," and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the witless cartoon dog Scooby-Doo. The memo candidly confirms that the aim of such caricature is to amp up "fear" among the GOP's conservative base. The memo also makes fun of major RNC donors, categorizing some as "ego-driven" and easily pacified with "tchochkes" (a Slavic word for toys).
The embrace of harsh rhetoric and the swipes at the large donor set seem to signal the GOP establishment's growing comfort with employing tactics associated with the activist Tea Party movement—and with plying Tea Party sympathizers for cash. Of course, it isn't unusual for parties out of power to court controversy and play with fire to rile up donors and grass-roots activists. The RNC has caught heat for fundraising tactics in the past, most recently when it was caught sending out fake census forms to raise money. More...

Cultures the world over use sound to attune to, invoke, and transform consciousness. Sound is a powerful tool, because it is vibrational in nature, and we are vibrational beings. Indeed the most modern science shows us that all life is vibrational in nature. This is in line with age old mystical thought of most cultures, which often alludes to the vibrational nature of Creation. The Hindus have a saying, “Nada Brahma”, which means, all is sound, or all of creation is sound. They suggest that the primordial sound of manifest creation is the sound of “Aum”, or Om, and that if we were to attune to the creative spirit, we would hear this sound. The Judeo-Christian culture might say, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1),” thus also tieing together the nature and power of sound with Creation. Other cultures have stories stating that the Creator had a thought, spoke the word of that thought, and Creation of that thought sprang forth from that word into manifestation. There are numerous theorems stipulating the melodic structures of the universe, from the spin of the planets around the sun, to the sun around the galaxy, to the spin of electrons in our body, and the structure of our DNA. Our modern music is based upon these principals derived from Pythagoras and others. (from What is Sound Healing which can be read in its entirety by visiting http://www.worldsoundhealing.org/SoundHealing.html )
When sounds are strung together they produce words. These words help us describe our experiences with the world around us. We use them to interact with others- to put form to – what is essentially formless. Just ask any quantum physicist and she will tell you – we are all energy.
Since man began combining sounds to communicate he has been been changing their initial meaning, coloring the sounds with experiences, with personal stories. Words became more and more personal, less and less Global.
Same word – different people – vastly different responses
We all know that to be true – just watch people’s reaction to the word God – super charged….
But underneath all the meanings and stories we have attached to individual words – the vibrations of the sounds that make up the words remain – and each has their own meaning – and their ability to align and empower us.
This audio has been designed to get underneath the stories we have placed on words and to realign ourselves with the power a pure vibrational match provides. It is very much a “Grand Experiment” that we Invite you to Participate In. Initial Results are exciting (see below) and not always what we expected. More:

4. Here's an interesting piece about OIL PRICES, THE FACTIONING OF ISLAM, and other fascinating geo-political prognostication from Agora Financial, an investment publication which urges its readers to pick stocks and other investments based upon anticipated political shifts throughout the world. While their timing might be a bit off, and while I don't promote their investment advice, they might be on to seing a serious internal jihad amongst warring factions of Islam...

What could be eight times bigger than the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan — and lethal enough to at least DOUBLE the price of gas and oil next year? Brace yourself for the "new" and bloody war nobody saw coming... by bunkering down against soaring energy costs, thanks to a "safe haven" financial plan that could pay you gains up to 668%...

Nobody in the Pentagon will talk openly about it. Nobody in the White House knows what to do.
But make no mistake...
What I'm about to show you could be the deadliest surprise threat to your money and livelihood of the coming year.
I say "new" because as you'll see there's not much new about it at all — the pressure's been building behind this for the last 1,354 years!
Yet for the first time in history, that pressure has found its release. I’m imagining a volcano of blood.
When it blows, you could see your savings get SLAMMED... the dollar thrown into a TAILSPIN... and, here's what will stun the still-recovering world economy, gas and oil prices doubling or even tripling by sometime early in the coming year.
How on earth is that possible?
It's the last thing most people expect, from market pros to bumbling D.C. bureaucrats... but if nothing changes in what I'm about to show you... this is a page in future history books that's already writing itself.I'll show you the evidence myself.
If I'm right, as many as eight key Islamic countries are hurtling headlong toward a bloody "new" war — with each other — that's been FOURTEEN CENTURIES in the making.
This could begin as early as the next 12 to 18 months. And with no less than 66% of the world's key energy reserves smack dab in the crosshairs.
Sound impossible?Even if I'm only half right, and we get an oil-state stalemate unlike anything the world has ever seen — you could see oil soar past the old high of $147.30 per barrel, well on its way to as much as $220... with gasoline bucking against a ceiling of $8 per gallon. More...

5. The highly conservative CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR is expressing a growing concern about the increase in militias and militia movements in the United States:

Who is David Brian Stone, leader of the Hutaree Militia?

AP – This photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service shows David Brian Stone Sr., 44, of Clayton, Mich. The …

By Will Buchanan Will Buchanan – Mon Mar 29, 5:55 pm ET

Members called him "Captain Hutaree" or, somewhat cryptically, "RD." A federal indictment calls him the “principal leader” of the Hutaree militia – an extremist group federal authorities say was preparing to "levy war" against the US government by killing police officers.
He is David Brian Stone, and early media accounts sketch a portrait of a man pulled increasingly toward the militia movement and its radical fringe. His ex-wife said she left him because he "got carried away." Federal authorities allege that he researched how to build roadside bombs on the Internet. And at least one neighbor said the group that Mr. Stone leads had acquired a certain notoriety around town.
"You don't mess with them," she told the Detroit News.
Monday morning, federal authorities released an indictment against Stone and eight other members of the Hutaree militia. They allege that Stone and his followers were planning an attack sometime in April, perhaps killing an police officer then targeting the funeral with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to raise the death toll. The group saw the police as an arm of the US government, which they felt was the enemy.
It had not started out like this, said Donna Stone, David's ex-wife.
“It started out as a Christian thing," Donna Stone told reporters at the preliminary court hearing Monday morning. "You go to church. You pray. You take care of your family. I think David started to take it a little too far. He dragged a lot of people with him. When he got carried away, when he went from handguns to big guns, I was done."
“He dragged a lot of innocent people down with him," said Donna Stone, whose son was legally adopted by David Stone and was among those indicted. “It started to get worse when they were talking about the world's gonna end in the Bible.”
According to the indictment, David Stone researched IEDs on the Internet and e-mailed diagrams of the devices to someone he believed capable of manufacturing the devices. He then directed his son, Joshua, and others to gather materials necessary for the manufacturing of the bombs.
The indictment further concludes that in June 2009, "Stone taught other Hutaree members how to make and use explosive devices intending or knowing that the information would be used to further a crime of violence."
Other militia groups in Michigan distanced themselves from David Stone and the Hutaree.
"I've met him. He's an opinionated man who likes to share those opinions," Jim Gulliksen of the Lenaway Volunteer Michigan Militia told the Detroit News. "The Hutaree is a nationwide group, but I have met a couple of the members here, and I can say they all belong to one specific church. Our concern is the protection of our nation. Religion appears to be a big part of what they are doing."
According to the group’s website Hutaree.com, Hutaree means “Christian Warrior.” The website announces: “The Hutaree will one day see its enemy and meet him on the battlefield if so God wills it.” More...

6. And, of course, The Davinci Institute offers some wonderful visionary thinking about the future and trends without any particular political slant except for an appreciation of science and the excitement of trying to predict the future in its Future Trend Report:

More Doctor's Moving Away From Private Practice and Going Into Big Health Care Organizations
A quiet revolution is transforming how medical care is delivered in this country, and it has very little to do with the sweeping health care legislation that President Obama just signed into law. But it could have a big impact on that law's chances for success. Traditionally, American medicine has been largely a cottage industry. Most doctors cared for patients in small, privately owned clinics - sometimes in rooms adjoining their homes. Continue reading

In the App World, Smartphones Are Taking Over Computers
Meet Barbara Place. She's an app-aholic. One look at her smartphone explains her condition.She has an app to wake her, a few to provide the day's news, one to check her bank account, another to make a grocery list, two to track her diet and one to get the weather. She has an app for baseball scores and an app for movie data. One app lets her program her DVR from afar. Another helps her unwind with quizzes about famous artworks. And that's just a portion of her daily intake. Continue reading

Chinese City is World Capital of Cyber- Espionage
A city in eastern China has been identified as the world capital of cyber-espionage by an American internet security company. The firm traced 12 billion emails in a study which showed that a higher number of "targeted attacks" on computers come from China than previously thought. Continue reading

FDA Pressured to Take On Food Fraud
The expensive "sheep's milk" cheese in a Manhattan market was really made from cow's milk. And a jar of "Sturgeon caviar" was, in fact, Mississippi paddlefish. Some honey makers dilute their honey with sugar beets or corn syrup, their competitors say, but still market it as 100 percent pure at a premium price. Continue reading

American Companies Could Control 40% of Lithium-Ion Battery Market by 2015
In February, President Barack Obama told the crowd at a Henderson, Nev., high school that not so long ago, the U.S. made barely 2% of the advanced batteries used in the world's electric vehicles. Now, thanks to a multibillion-dollar federal investment, American companies are positioned to increase production tenfold - and potentially control 40% of the global lithium-ion-battery market by 2015. "We've created an entire new industry," Obama said. Continue reading

Airlines Saw a Significant Drop in Passengers and Revenue in 2009
The global economic downturn took 68.6 million scheduled airline passengers out of the USA's skies over the last two years. Last year, 769.6 million travelers boarded planes in the U.S. or planes bound for the U.S., according to new data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That's down 5.3% from 812.3 million passengers in 2008 and down 8.2% from the record 838.2 million air travelers in the U.S. market in 2007. Continue reading

Debt-Settlement Fraud on the Rise
Baltimore resident Gloria Snowden thought she had found a way out from under her $10,000 credit card bill when she signed up with a company that promised to negotiate with creditors to settle the debt for less than she owed. Continue reading

Many Baby Boomers will be Forced to Work Long Into Their Retirement
The recession is reshuffling retirement plans for baby boomers - a demographic tsunami, accustomed to setting the agenda, that finds itself scrambling as the oldest boomers turn 64. Only 53 percent of workers 55 and older have even tried to calculate how much they need for retirement, according to a 2010 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, and 29 percent report less than $10,000 in savings and investments. It's little wonder that just 13 percent said they were confident they had enough to live comfortably in retirement. Continue reading

1.3 Billion People But China Still Faces a Labor Shortage
In the labor market's pecking order, Chen Xiulan is at the very bottom. She is female, middle-aged and from the countryside and stands barely 5 feet tall. (Height requirements are common with Chinese employers.) Yet when the nearly 60-year-old grandmother from Sichuan province showed up in Shanghai last fall looking for work on the construction site of the sprawling World Expo, nobody laughed. Chen was handed a hard hat and a broom and put to work with the crew that sweeps up debris. Continue reading

Extreme Dieting in Asia on the Rise
This glamorous Asian city is known for its mouth- watering dim sum. Its high fashion. And its 100-pound- and-under women. Agatha Yau, a marketing executive, is one of these women. She has done many things over the years to stay trim: taken diet pills, eaten meals of boiled vegetables and practiced delaying gratification. Continue reading

As for myself, I am in the process of preparing two or three articles about shocking socio-economic changes which will impact every aspect of our lives -- and not in a good way. On the constructive side, I will try to provide you with various means of avoiding or mitigating the effects of these revolutionary, earth-shattering changes.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

This article was re-printed with permission from The National Networker RSS and Daily Email Feed. While the exceptional women discussed in the article are established in the United States, be advised of two important factors: 1) women throughout much of the World are making aggressive strides toward self-determination and growth, and 2) the female entrepreneurs in the United States will be growing their businesses and their potent influence internationally, through the conduit of the Internet. You are advised, dear Readers, to pay close attention. --DC

------------------

Dedication to The Winning Women's Vortex - The WWV

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Members and those nosy persons who are sneaking a peek over the shoulders of the aforementioned three categories of legitimate readers because you've not bothered to get your own free subscription to The National Networker business publications by simply clicking onhttp://bit.ly/JoinTNNW - For Shame! :

The Winning Women's Vortex, an amazing site which is being sponsored by The National Networker Companies and which will be moderated by Author, Featured TNNW Columnist and Connectrix Ann Barczay Sloan is going to be opened for a brief preview on April 14th, at http://thewinningwomensvortex.blogspot.com/.

It should be noted that the site will feature multiple interactive communities featuring topics of interest to women of ambition - these topics will include, but will not be limited to the chartering of a credit union, a venture capital and business bootstrapping fund, a collective bargaining/ lobbying unit and other new institutions and programs to be established by women and for women.

The site's Founder and Moderator, Connectrix Ann Barczay Sloan, is also the author of the soon-to-be-released book, "THE POWER OF PASSION: Winning Women Reveal Their Success Secrets," which will contain Ann's interviews with 17 of the most promising female thought leaders and entrepreneurs standing at the leading edge of the movement for Women's Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Empowerment.

These women will also be involved as advisors, pundits and futurists on the WWV site, and they will be accessible to the public.

TNNWC has recently been reporting on the activities and achievements of several of these truly outstanding women, including:

Bonnie Ross-Parker (America's Connection Diva and the Founder of The Joy Of Connecting, at http://www.thejoyofconnecting.com/ and The Latina Joy Of Connecting) creator of the world's most revolutionary system for in-home women's networking and relationship-building;

Sandra Levitin, the Founder, Publisher and Editor of Kalön Women, and of Kalön Women’s Magazine at http://kalön-women.com/, two of the fastest-growing sensational resources for women 40 and over in the United States; and

Gentlemen (myself, an others similarly equipped)...these women are breaking down all barriers...we can either learn to surf, or be crushed by the coming Tidal Wave. Personally, I'm learning to be very nice, and to treat these amazing females with great respect - I would insist that you do the same, fellows, or risk the consequences.

-----------------------------------------p.s. Ann Barczay Sloan sent me these terrific and clever insults in an attempt to keep me in good spirits (perhaps my mother has been paying her -- I am always suspicious when a woman is nice to me). Adam J. Kovitz (TNNWC's Founder who tries to push me around ) and I decided to share these beauties with you. Thanks again, Ann -- our favorite Connectrix:

When Insults Had Class

These glorious insults are from an era before the Englishlanguage got boiled down to 4-letter words (and peoplestill used their brains, if they had any!).-- The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:She said, "If you were my husband I'd poison your tea."He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

-- A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either dieon the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.""That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace yourpolicies or your mistress."

-- "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

-- "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -Winston Churchill

-- "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituarieswith great pleasure." Clarence Darrow

-- "He has never been known to use a word that might send areader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about ErnestHemingway).

-- "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying Iapproved of it." - Mark Twain

-- "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.."- Oscar Wilde

-- "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring afriend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."- Winston Churchill, in response.

-- "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."- Stephen Bishop

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Marketing Brief: The Lowest Common Denominator Has The Broadest Promotional Appeal.

Note: This article was written by Douglas Castle, Vice-Chairman and Featured Columnist for The National Networker Companies, and an advisor, strategic planner and financier of emerging enterprises and businesses in the process of re-engineering themselves. The article was written for simultaneous publication to The National Networker RSS and Daily Email Newsfeed, The Global Futurist and the author's personal blog. It may be reproduced, re-published ot transmitted without permission provided that the article is published in its entirety, without editorial deletions or editions, and with all hyperlinks remaining intact and live. You may join The National Networker Companies' GICBC and receive its free publications by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNW.

Dear Friends:

Out in the sensorially overloaded and increasingly noisy worlds of marketing and advertising, it is becoming an ever-tougher challenge to make your message heard. There are numerous ways of doing this, several of which I have profiled below:

1. Repetition;

2. Uniquely memorable catchphrase or slogan;

3. Sponsorship or re-branding of other interesting news or messages, varied from day to day;

4. Being brief;

5. Being very clear as to your offering; and,

6. Being shocking or controversial.

In mass email campaigns, social media campaigns and in virtually all forms of advertising, marketing and promotion, the above six components are essential. When combined, the effect is synergistic The greatest challenges facing any advertising, marketing or promotional professional in dealing with the public-at-large are threefold:

1. Getting their attention;

2. Programming them to need (or desire), recognize and believe in your brand;

3. Creating a sense of excitement and urgency in a call to action.

These are not simple jobs.

In these times of decreasing patience, declining literacy and waning intellectual curiosity, the trend is to make the message as simple as possible, using fewer words, fewer steps and larger type. Expect to see more and more of this in the most successful brands. I recently received an advertisement (which I retrieved from the depths of my mile-high spam box) from MySpace which is a superb example of this type of literary economy and anti-intellectualism (which latter term is not meant in a disparaging way).

Before you view it, bear in mind the new marketing creed: When promoting to the sensorially fatigued, impatient and indolent majority, you must fashion your message (and its presentation) to the Lowest Common Denominator.

You'll notice that intelligent individuals are not offended by your brand's lowball pitch -- they are growing more acclimated to "mandated simplicity." You'll also find that the less sophisticated prospects will be drawn to action.

In a 2010 competition between the words of Emily Dickenson and the courtroom wisdom of the late attorney Johnny Cochran (O.J. Simpson's legal counsel at his trial for the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend, who said, in reference to a bloody glove offered into evidence, "If it do not fit, then you must acquit."), Cochran will emerge as the clear winner. Other examples abound..."Just do it."... "Obey your thirst."..."talk to your kid about drugs."... "Be all that you can be." ... "The Few. The Proud. The Marines."... "You're Fired!"..."If you see something, say something." -- examples are becoming easier to find.

Yes, indeed. The lowest common denominator, as low as that may ultimately go, will increasingly set the tone for the nature of all advertising and marketing. As a friend said to me just this past week, "Douglas, sometimes it's smart to be dumb."

I've been trying to appeal to people's intellect for a long time, but...hey....My Bad...